Blog – Old – Page 6

What Did You Call Me?

We get called by a lot of different names in our line of work. When our clients think of the various project consultants, they have a solid idea of the exact job each performs based upon their consistent titles, such as general contractor, architect, or electrical engineer. It seems that as the Project Management field has grown over the several years, so have our titles: Owner’s Representative Construction Manager (CM) Construction Manager Advisor Program Manager Project Manager While all might fit, depending upon the job, they are not exactly interchangeable. Here are some subtleties between them: Owner's Representative - entity that manages on Owner’s behalf; usually has an agreement only with the Owner and no other entity. Construction Manager (CM) - Similar to an Owner’s Representative but will hire and manage subcontractors on the Owner’s behalf. The CM doesn’t hold the agreements with the subs, the Owner does.

The Silver Linings of a Low Bid

While it's accepted practice to seek out the best deal when shopping for a car, house and toothpaste, we receive feedback from frustrated colleagues when owners base their general contractor selection off the lowest fee, or lowest bid. The challenge in front of the A/E/C community, is to demonstrate to the owner the value of paying more for your services. This is very difficult when you are selling a service to those who have limited industry experience. Should we embrace that we have to provide the lowest fee to win the final selection? Is being selected by low fee always bad, or is there a silver lining? Here are some things to consider from our perspective on why hiring based on lowest fee isn’t all bad. New Markets. We have seen design and construction firms with an iron grip on certain project types, be it libraries, police or

Stop Watching Porn

We know you do it, be it online, with magazines or other medium…you can’t help yourself; but, you need to stop. There are all types to fit your desires, but is it healthy? You view these mediums so much that they become reality and you may be living in an alternate world. Of course, I am talking about…architectural design and the media that showcase glorious architectural designs. In the 1960’s, Playboy set expectations of how the average “girl next door” should look. Now we are in the digital age, where anything goes. Just as this may not be healthy for your relationship with your partner, the same could be said for the architecture medium you are consuming. You might tell yourself that Houzz, Architizer and The Architectural Review are sources of inspiration, but doesn’t it distort reality, leaving us to feel our design are “less-than?” Are you entering the

Ask An Owner’s Rep

Our staff is frequently asked for our opinion or insight on various industry matters, from the latest technology to best practices in securing work from specific client types. We encourage you to post a question in this blog or email me directly at pwember@wemberinc.com. Our knowledge is yours. ~ Paul Wember, Owner's Representative

Don’t Start Out Like a Drunken Sailor

In the past week, I had three clients use the word ‘f#*k’ in conversation. When clients swear around you, receive it as a compliment. Why, you ask? Think about it this way, who do you swear around? Is it your boss? Probably not. Your significant other? Maybe a bit. How about your closest colleagues and friends? More likely. In other words, do you swear around people you trust? Hell, yes! So how do you know if you can even get to this level of trust with a client? Here are some tips: Use your head as some clients are obviously off limits. It’s never going to happen. Do they wear a black shirt and a white collar? Do they spend more than 80% of their time around children? Do they have a PhD? Do they knit for a hobby? Look for clues that they may be receptive... Our

2Pac vs John Lennon

Two great artists. Two tragic deaths. Two very different styles. Is your style like 2Pac or John Lennon? 2Pac was “Me Against the World” and “All Eyes on Me”. Where John Lennon was “Imagine” and “Instant Karma”. Where do you fall in this spectrum? You would think the obvious answer should be John Lennon, but note, this industry is not all unicorns and sunshine. Having a positive attitude is a great, but if you don’t have a little precipitation there will be no rainbows. When you begin working with a client everything is “so great, we can do it, we can meet the budget, we can give you everything you want.” While this feels like spreading peace, we all know that no project ever goes perfectly; you might want to pour a glass of Hennessy and get real. John Lennon was an inspiration and uplifting, garner his great qualities,

Love Letters

I ran into a client at an industry-related Valentine’s party and when speaking about a staff member of ours, he stated “I love working with your Project Manager and the Board loves him too.” At Wember, we work hard to have our clients reach this level of satisfaction. How does a business get to the point of love? Why would we target this specific word, and, why should you? First, the “why.” All I can say is, who doesn’t want to be loved? It’s human nature and it’s not restricted to a significant other or family member. Being loved is the highest form of flattery and, when stated honestly, it makes you feel special. More importantly, being loved is good for business. So, how do you get to this point in a relationship? Think about it as you would if you were on Match.com. Profile Page – This

Your Most Important Task

I enjoy meeting with business development managers, principals and marketing managers and talking about the current state-of-the-industry, upcoming events and exciting opportunities. I find it fascinating to learn what each type feels is important to winning work. Marketing managers talk a lot about proposals and graphics, owners are more focused on design and why they are better, while business development managers seem to keep their scores by how many people they know. I appreciate all they do in generating new work, but have to say, the most important task is rarely done. In my opinion, the most important thing you can do to win work is to understand why you lose work. In a year’s time, we review about 60 RFP responses from architects and contractors. On average, we get calls for feedback from approximately five firms. As a colleague who also submits proposals, I respect that it

What I am Not Thankful for This Year

To have good, you must have bad; up must have down, and to be thankful, you need to have the unthankful. As we come into the season of giving thanks, there is so much I am thankful for, a sustainable business, a healthy family, my soft bed. That said, there are a few things this I am not thankful for, I suggest you state the following, as Jimmy Fallon does in his bit, thank you…. Thank you AEC Marketing professionals for all the emails telling us how thankful you are for having clients that make you great. Are you great or thankful? It gets a bit blurry. I’d be thankful for having you remove me from your email list. Thank you to the company that our client didn’t select to serve on the team. I understand that it’s frustrating to lose a project that you thought you were

Your Building Smells Like Crap

We often focus on the aesthetic of our buildings, but unless the rendering comes with a scratch and sniff component, sometimes we are only seeing the pretty picture. Odors can ruin the quality of occupant experience, no matter how beautiful the building. Water, gas, and other elements can be sources of foul smells, haunting a building as they are very hard to trace. We have had two instances where this has been a project challenge. In the first situation, the building would randomly smell like gas. There was no consistency to the situation, making it hard to resolve. We applied cognitive thinking and deductive reasoning: Determine if there was a gas leak. There was no pressure loss, so that was ruled out. Determined where the smell was coming from. The odor was coming through the vents. Analyze the mechanical intakes. It turned out that there was a gas